Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Sunday, March 28, 2010

In the Christian world, the week before the Easter Holiday (or HolyDay) is known as the Holy Week. It begins with Palm Sunday and Culminates with the celebration of the empty tomb we now call refer to as Easter. To help our family be more mindful of the events in the Savior's life leading up to this most glorious of events, we have decided to see what the New Testament has to say about it and will read each day about Holy Week.

Our family is still fairly young so we do an abbreviated telling of all the events

Sunday (Palm Sunday): We will read Matt. 2:1-11 This is known as the Triumphal entry. (see also see Zechariah 9:9)

1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. 6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. 10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? 11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee

Monday: The cleansing of the Temple. We will read Matt 21:12-17

12 ¶ And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. 15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the achildren crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, 16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? 17 ¶ And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.

Tuesday: Teachings from the Temple. We will read Matt 21:33-46 and discuss what Jesus was trying to tell the people.

33 ¶ Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to bhusbandmen, and went into a far country: 34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. 35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. 37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. 38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the aheir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. 39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. 40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? 41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. 42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? 43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. 46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet

Wednesday: While there isn't anything specific that happens today, we will read about Judas and how he agreed to betray Jesus. Another suggestion would be to read the Parable of the 10 Virgins. See Matt 26:14-16

14 ¶ Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

Thursday: Last Supper and Garden of Gethsemane. Huge. Lots of stuff to cover! We will have to set aside some extra time and I will find some classic pics to go with this too. We will pull from the New Testament gospels (Matt 26 and John 13-17) as well as the Scripture from D&C 19:16-19

16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; 17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; 18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

and Mosiah 3:7

7 And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.

Friday: The trial, crucifixion, and burial of Christ (see Matt 27). I think we will go a different way tonight. I plan to watch "The Lamb of God," a movie produced several years ago by the church about this very day.

Saturday: We will discuss missionary work in the Spirit World. 1Peter 3:18-20 and 1Peter 4:6. Also D&C 138:8-10,25-28

18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

8 “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 9 “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” (1 Peter 3:18—20.) 10 “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

25 I marveled, for I understood that the Savior spent about three years in his ministry among the Jews and those of the house of Israel, endeavoring to teach them the everlasting gospel and call them unto repentance; 26 And yet, notwithstanding his mighty works, and miracles, and proclamation of the truth, in great power and authority, there were but bfew who hearkened to his voice, and rejoiced in his presence, and received salvation at his hands. 27 But his ministry among those who were dead was limited to the brief time intervening between the crucifixion and his resurrection; 28 And I wondered at the words of Peter—wherein he said that the Son of God preached unto the aspirits in prison, who sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah—and how it was possible for him to preach to those spirits and perform the necessary labor among them in so short a time.”

Sunday: Easter This is the day we read of the miracle of the Empty Tomb. We'll read all of Matt. 28 Here is verse 6:

6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay

.

By taking a few minutes each day I hope that me and my family will be able to remember the wonder of this most special Week.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Tonight I attended my first Tea Party/ 9-12 meeting. My friend Jill and my neighbor Brad were at the Caucus meeting last week and we got to talking. Brad has attended some 9-12 meetings in Bayfield so he suggested we have a meeting closer to us. Jill was really excited about the idea and so was I... So we did!

We met at the Grange building and we told people about it through email and facebook. I asked Brad if I could give a short presentation and I thought we would be lucky to have 20 people. I convinced John to come with me and our dear friend Lanae made it possible by running our kids around and watching the little guys (Thanks!) When the meeting got started we had 60-70 people there! I was pleasantly surprised though somewhat intimidated by how few of the faces were familiar. It was nice to see several faces of folks in the ward. :)

Brad spoke for a few minutes to welcome everyone then I was up. It picked 3 things to focus on: Education, Unification, and Elections. I showed a quick clip from the 'School House Rock' series of my youth about the Preamble to the Constitution. I told how when I was young, the Constitution was taught even on Saturday morning cartoons. I asked for suggestions from the crowd on books we can read to Educate ourselves on the Founding Fathers and their original intentions. We got lots of great suggestions. I then talked about Unification. We need to strengthen our Families, neighborhoods, communities, church groups, etc. We need to be sure to talk to those around us and invite them to get involved. Our families and communities are the building blocks of the country and we need to keep them strong. Then of course there are Elections. This is where we will make a change. We need to encourage good candidates and be sure we know who we are voting for. I personally do not want to see any 3rd party candidates and it sounded like most others agreed. I think it went well. :)

We then heard from Wendy Cox who is a 9-12 Group leader out in Bayfield. She told us about her adventure to Washington to protest the passage of the Health Care Bill. After her we heard from 2 Republican Candidates. Walker Stapelton is running for State Treasurer and just happened to be in town (I called his campaign and invited him to speak to us). We then heard form J Paul Brown, a local who is running for our Congressional Seat in the Colorado legislature. Both emphasized a desire to return to conservative fiscal policy which was encouraging to me.

I think the meeting dragged out a little bit at the end, but went well overall. Lots of people signed up for email notification on our next gathering and were very interested to become more involved in the political process. That was so encouraging to me! I have serious concerns about our increasing debt levels and the sheer size of the Federal Government. I think Health Care reform is essential, but I do NOT think more government is the answer. I think the Republicans failed for YEARS and while I have to acknowledge that the Democrats have at least done SOMETHING, it is certainly NOT what I believe the country needs. I am glad that people want to get involved and let the government know what it is they want. I think we as citizens have been apathetic for too long and we need to let our leaders know what we want so they won't misunderstand. I feel that the best government is close to the people at either the local or state level. I think a Federal government that is too large or powerful is ripe for corruption. I am hoping we can swing the pendulum the other direction although I think it is certainly harder to shrink the government than it is to grow it. I think we should be helping our neighbors, but I don't think it's the governments job to see to that.

We will have another meeting in 2 weeks where we will organize and set a course. I am so encouraged by the level of interest expressed. People want to get involved. They want a voice. They want to make a difference. That is what makes our Republic great and I am glad that so many people want to see it through. You know people have to be fired up if we could fill up the Grange on a Tuesday night! I am excited to see if we can keep the momentum going and continue to get the community involved.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

John took Seth and Gabe to Taos this weekend for their annual 'Birthday Ski Trip.' I hear that it was OUTSTANDING!! Lots of fresh snow made it a great ski trip--although I think they would have had a blast either way. ;) Greg and Kanyon Mann were there as well as Colin Francom. They are all not only great skiers, but great guys. If you look really close, you can see them on the mountain. John was pretty proud of his icy beard.This blurry, grainy pic is one of the boys in the hot tub. John said that they would shape their hair into mohawks and spikes because it would freeze as they sat in the hot tub. Funny!

Apparently it was a terrific weekend and even though John got altitude sickness on the end of the last day, he said it was an absolute BLAST! I love that they can hang out like that together! Thanks for taking them sweetie! :)

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Tonight I went to the Caucus Meeting. I think I have been to one before back in 2008, but I really wasn't sure what it was for. I know, I know, I am politically ignorant. But I am trying. At our caucus meeting there were 9 of us from our district and I got picked to be a Precinct Committee Person. ( I actually think I did that 2 years ago too---Yes, I know, I am super politically ridiculous...) So I now get to go to the fairgrounds at the end of the month and listen to different political stuff and hear from different candidates.

For those out of the loop, tonite's Caucus is the meeting that any concerned citizen who is registered to vote should attend. You are able to express concerns you have and even submit them in writing in hopes that they will continue to get passed up the line to our lawmakers. One guy wants the increased fees for car registration repealed. Another wants to be sure we let someone know that he's opposed to Cap and Trade. Most of the people there expressed serious concern about Health Care and the general Hugeness of Government and it's spending. Of course I enjoyed it! :) I am glad to see that other people are concerned too. Because ya, I am concerned. WAY!

Our government will only be as good as we demand it to be. I think that our Federal Government is too powerful and therefore susceptible to big time corruption. I think power needs to be returned to the States. I am not sure if I will make any difference, but I have decided that I will try.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Friday, March 12, 2010

Today we went up to DMR for some more Spring..er, I mean WINTER fun. (Cuz ya, Spring has not yet Sprung...) We decided to be a little crazy, and all but the two youngest in the family went snowboarding.

It has been about 10 years (how is that possible?! 10 YEARS!!) since I have snowboarded and I just have to say that I remember being... well, better.... I also remember being less afraid to crash. :) I have to concede the fact that I haven't gotten any younger in the last decade. Oh well! I could still enjoy the youthfulness of my offspring, right?

And I did! It was fun to see them working hard at something new. OK, OK, what I really enjoyed was actually being better than them at a winter sport. This is new for me as they ALL can kick my can in skiing! But of course they all picked it up really fast, and I think it will only be another day or two before they are kicking my can once again. :) Good thing I don't mind them kickin' the ol' can.

We all did fairly well for the first half of the day. After lunch, Jebb complained his legs were hurting, but got really mad when we made him quit. Elise lost some enthusiasm after a few hard crashes and came to hang in the lodge with Jebb and I. the rest of the gang hung in until the end of the day.

Great day. Enjoyed it a lot. Good family time. Good excercise. SO......I think this about does it for me and winter. I am now content and ready to part as friends until next year. Hear that winter? Let's part ways. Please.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The kids had such a great time skiing yesterday, they wanted to go again today. Since we were already firmly into the afternoon, we decided to take a radical course. We thought this would be a great day for the 3 oldest kids to do something they have been wanting to do for a loooooong time. We decided to let them go snowboarding at our awesome Chapman Hill. John used to tell them that they could try snowboarding as soon as they were able to ski everywhere he could. I knew that day would never really come as John is an amazing and crazy skier. So we relented and decided to let them go for the Shred! The kids were all pretty optimistic about how it would go, so John tried to prepare them mentally for lots of face plants and knee knockers. John took them to rent boards and they headed to the Hill (how awesome to have a ski hill right in town!!)

John gave them a few pointers and they grabbed the tow rope. It took less than an hour for John to call me..... ECSTATIC!! (Brag Alert) Apparently they were doing FABULOUS!! John was pleasantly surprised and called a few times just to tell me how well they were doing. They shredded for about 2 hours and John took these short videos with our little camera.

This is Gabe after about an hour. He is already hooking together heel and toe side turns! I guess wakeboarding on the boat must cross over.Elise is such a great sport! I love this clip of her saying 'Cowabunga!'This is Seth hitting a couple of jumps. ;)One last clip of Gabe taking a couple of jumps.

They all did so well that we have decided to let them all try boarding sometime soon on the big mountain....

This week has been our Spring Break. I have had a strange, unidentified feeling about it until recently. As I sat looking out the window at the falling snow, I had an epiphany. I realized that what I was feeling was an intense desire to punch Puxatony Phil right in his shadow casting little face. I am SICK of the 6 more weeks of winter we have been having!!!

We thought we would get out of town and head to sunny AZ, but as the time drew near, we felt like we needed to hang around home. It turned out that AZ was cool and rainy, so we weren't too sad. We also had some business things that needed our attention, so it was a good thing we were around. Well... good except for the whole cold, gloomy vibe we had going on here. And it just made it all the gloomier that we were calling it all Spring Break!

So we decided to embrace those 6 more weeks of winter. We packed up the car with our ski gear and our swimsuits. I know it seems like a bit of a contradiction, but not if you are going to Pagosa Springs. We had such a great time there a few weeks ago, we decided to take the whole darn family for some Spring Break fun. We drove on the snowy roads up to Wolf Creek where the fog was laying on the mountains. But we didn't let that deter us, we geared up and hit the slopes.

Wolf Creek was awesome! Gabe and Seth took a run with the fam before seeking out some steeper terrain. Elise opted to stay with John and I as we skied with the little guys. Jackson and Jebb did so well on the soft, ungroomed runs. Elise was a great little instructor and I just grinned all day watching them all ski together. They found a little trail through the trees and a couple of bumps they called jumps. :) After we got lunch in the lodge, some of us whom will not be named (OK, me) were feeling at peace with the idea of being done skiing for the day. Elise and the little guys joined me in going to the car where we got comfy (i.e. busted out the M&M's and Nintendos). John took the big boys up for a few big runs.

Apperently, it was OUTSTANDING! Not only did they ski off the cornice, but they also hiked up to Alberta Peak (thanks for the tip Chris!) and had an epic run. John was beside himself giddy telling me how awesome the boys did. Seth was apparently a little hesitant, but he went for it and nailed it! The big boys talked and smiled ear to ear all the way back to Pagosa where we checked into The Springs. What an awesome was to end a ski day! We soaked before walking across the river for dinner, then returned to soak again into the night.

What an great day! This morning we awoke and after getting hot chocolate for everyone, we returned to soak again.

I wasn't ready to go. I was having one of those really great moments this morning. (The Springs is made up of a bunch of separate hot tubs fed by the natural hot spring. They are all varying sizes and temperatures and they all feed into the San Juan River which runs along the property.) I was sitting in a pool where I could see the kids going from pool to pool. The pool I was in has a waterfall running into it, so you can't really hear anything. All I had was the visual.

I watched Gabe wade out to the icy river and completely submerge himself before hastily scrambling into a hot tub to warm up again. Gabe never cares if anyone is looking, he always challenges himself to see if he can do something, and he was true to form this morning. I loved looking. I watched Seth walk to the river and put a foot in. He went back to the hot tub. I saw him go back a few minutes later and force himself to sit down in the river up to his neck before jumping up and running back to the warmth. I watched Jackson watching Seth. He followed behind him. When Seth put his feet in, Jackson followed and dipped in a foot. When Seth went all the way in, Jackson watched. After Seth jumped out, Jackson went in and sat down in the river up to his waist. Watching Seth have the courage to take the dip gave Jackson the courage to follow him. I then watched Elise walking with Jackson and Jebb, holding hands with both of them. When Jackson slipped on the bridge, I saw her help him up and get down so she could see him eye-to-eye, making sure he was alright. I saw Jebb put his little hand on Jackson's cheek in obvious concern for him. Jackson nodded his head, and the three of them continued across the slippery bridge.

I watched all of he kids hanging out together, and with only the sound of the waterfall, I could easily imagine that they were only speaking kind and loving words to one another. ;) Could they have been fighting? It's highly probable. But I couldn't see it, and I certainly couldn't hear it. (Sidenote: I am thinking I need to walk around with an ipod recording of a waterfall and if the kids start picking on each other, I will just turn up the volume and smile at their darling faces.) The kids would all come over to my waterfall-bliss-bubble-tub at different times to check in with me, and then they were off again trying to get as much hot tub time in as possible before the inevitable. When it was finally time to check out and go back home, we stretched our outing out a little longer and had a late breakfast together at a local joint. The food was so, so good. And the kids were so, so good. What could be better?

So now we are home again and although winter is still hanging around, I somehow have hope that Spring will indeed come. Thanks family for a really great winter outing! I no longer feel the need to punch Puxatony Phil, although I might want to still have some firm words with him.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Today was Seth's first trip to the Temple. I am so glad he has a worthy Dad and Brother to go with him. They took several family names and were able to be baptized for them (if you haven't checked out new.familysearch.org yet, you gotta do it--so, so easy!!)

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Today Gabe had the opportunity to participate in a History Day Competition up at the college. He made a project in class and advanced to this competition. We were all somewhat surprised as he did not put much effort into the project.... but I will refrain from writing a post about the quality of work required in schools. ;) I guess that sounds a bit rude. Gabe's project fulfilled all requirements in a solid though simple manner. I can say all of this because he was completely shocked that his project got selected to move on as well. What I am trying to say is that Gabe didn't have high expectations or nerves in going there. He was mostly just excited to be out of school for the day.

I volunteered to take a bunch of the projects in the 'burb from the Middle School to the College. Gabe and I got to hang out most of the morning as we met, loaded, unloaded, etc. It was pleasant, so I made a crazy move. I decided to linger longer at the College. The displays were in the Student Union Building and except for a few minutes of explaining their projects to the judges, the kids just hung out there all day.

Gabe was somewhat slow to warm up to my lingering ways. I knew I could go one of two ways. I could either bow out totally and head to the car, or I could step up from a 'linger' to something more obtuse. I knew there was a legitimate risk of severely embarrassing and alienating Gabe with my parental uncoolness, but I was ready to roll the dice and go for it. I had grabbed a deck of Phase10 cards as we ran out the door this morning, and I decided to step up my whole mom presence.

I asked Gabe and a couple of his friends if they wanted to play BS (this is a simple card game you can play with Phase10 cards). Gabe's immediate response was to decline. I had a parental pause moment and wondered if I had made the wrong choice in staying around, but I pressed on. Many of his friends seemed quite eager to kill some time with mindless card games, so I wasn't totally discouraged. Someone once told me that if you just smile in any situation, people will believe you have the world by the tail. So I smiled a little harder and applied a little peer pressure. After several phrases like, 'Come on, it will be a quick game,' he hesitantly agreed to a round of BS. This is where I really tried to turn on the whole, 'See, I can be a fun mom' vibe. And I think it worked!! Soon we were all laughing, talking, and calling out BS. Kids were coming around asking to be dealt into the next hand. I tried to play it cool and amp down my smile by this point because I was having a blast hanging out with Gabe.

I ended up hanging out for the whole day with Gabe. By the end of the day, he was yelling for me to come sit by him during the awards presentation. Of course I was in Mom-of-a-middle-schooler heaven. I wondered for a minute if I was missing the whole point of the day, because Gabe did not receive any awards...yet I was sitting there beaming with pride to be his mom. We had talked and laughed and enjoyed his friends all day. Together. Gabe checking out some of the displays. They got judged by ladies from the historical society-I love their outfits!

I took this last picture of a game I got going called Murder. It's a fun interactive game where you get to hold hands!! After playing several rounds, I got out of the circle so I could get a picture. I was glad Gabe wondered if I was going to keep playing. The thing that made me really happy was to get to know some of Gabe's friends and see that they were really nice kids. Sometimes I focus on all of the naughty kids that are at the school and I forget that there are lots of families raising really wonderful children. I was glad to see that Gabe's good friends were really quite terrific. Thanks for letting me hang with you today G, I think you are super cool! :)

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Gabe and Seth spent a good chunk of the afternoon shoveling snow to build a little kicker that they could practice their 360's on. It ended up being more of a 180 jump, but that didn't stop them from doing it until the sun went down.

There are some fun benefits to living in a ski town. On a Tuesday night you can go downtown, and for just $8, you can ride a rope up a groovy little ski hill as many times as you want. What a terrific way for people to learn to ski without having to fork out the serious dough up on the mountain! The Young Men did a skiing activity tonight at Chapman Hill and since John had to drive them there anyway, he decided to take the little guys. After I dropped Elise at Achievement Days, I went down the road a few blocks to the ski hill and took some photos.

For most of the time I have lived here, we have been in a drought. There were winters when there was rarely snow on the ground all winter. John used to tell me how it wasn't always that way. In years past I have seen Chapman Hill with it's tow rope, void of snow winter after winter. But now they say the decade long drought has started to abate. And we have snow. LOTS of snow! I have driven past the HIll on my way to the church and have thought, "Hm, we need to go try that out..." and I am so glad that we did! The little guys had a blast (I think the big boys had fun too, they worked on their 'tricks')!!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Last night we went out to dinner. It was a fun resturant where you could eat peanuts and throw them on the floor. You could draw on the floor with chalk.But that's not the reason we went there. We went for this special lady:Grandma Kristine has been wanting to go to Denver to visit Kip and his family. And this morning she hopped a plane and headed out. Our kids are going to really, really miss her. She is always around to listen to how their day went and slip them a treat. They will miss watching cartoons in her room and having her tidy up their rooms while they are at school.

I took Kristine to the airport this morning and I thought how tough it must be for her right now. She has lived with us since Christmas and has had a good attitude about being somewhat displaced. I know she will be in good hands at Kip's house, but I hope she knows that we look forward to having her back.

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About Me

I'm a SAH Mom with 5 ridiculously gorgeous kids. I am married to a true Renaissance man. I like to travel and see new things, but I always love coming home to my own bed. I am an active member of the Mormon church and am trying to Choose the Right (usually!).